1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to burglar bars, alarm devices and electronic lock devices, and more particularly to remote controlled emergency release burglars having an electronic lock that is actuated remotely by a signal generated by a smoke detector alarm.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In many communities, homes and businesses must install burglar bars (security bars) or a security grill in the windows, and/or entryways of the premises to prevent criminal entry into the premises. Typically, the burglar bars or security grills are permanently affixed to the building exterior, or are mounted on hinges and provided with a lock that is opened by a key in the possession of the occupant, to prevent unauthorized removal, particularly from the outside of the building.
Although burglar bars may successfully prevent unauthorized break-ins, they can create a major safety problem in the event of a fire, since there may be no other exit available except through the windows and doorways of the premises. Burglar bars have been responsible for many deaths and destruction of property caused by fires because the occupant was unable to open the burglar bars or the emergency personnel were unable to enter the premises to control the fire or rescue the occupants. In the event of a fire, time is of the essence and significant delays or inoperability in releasing the burglar bars, or attempting to quickly locate the key for the lock could be life threatening.
Keyless electronic locks and electronic deadbolts that are actuated by remote control are also known in the art. Typically, such locking devices include an actuator that is coupled to a conventional dead bolt via various mechanisms, such as a connection rod, a solenoid, a motor, or a gear drive to extend and retract the deadbolt. The actuator is electrically and/or mechanically connected to a receiver that receives a signal sent from a remote transmitter in a remote control unit. The receiver activates the actuator, which, in turn actuates the mechanism to extend or retract the deadbolt.
Most of these prior art keyless electronic locks and electronic deadbolts are operated by a small remote transmitter or remote control unit, similar to the small transmitter that operates the locks on an a vehicle which is usually attached to a key chain or held in the hand of the operator. Though these devices may work successfully during normal circumstances, they may not offer protection during a fire, since the occupants of a burning building may be overcome by smoke, unconscious, or find themselves searching through their belongings in hopes of finding their transmitter quickly.
Schmidt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,966 discloses a locking and emergency release system for barred windows wherein the heavy iron gratings of a burglar-proof window are pivotally mounted on one side and the other side is provided with a latch type locking mechanism using a plunger having a ramped surface to hold a set of ball bearings in locking engagement with a matching cylinder. A small carbon dioxide container is mounted within the latch and is spring loaded with a detent arranged for actuation from within the home that is being protected. When the detent is released, a spring-loaded plunger punctures the carbon dioxide container, and a ramped latching plunger is moved to release the locking ball bearings, and then the iron grating or barrier is then vigorously swung open by the pneumatic pressure from the punctured container.
Stephens, U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,574 discloses a quick release burglar bar assembly mountable over a window or door opening in a building that may be quickly manually released from an interior portion of the building without a need for keys, or the like. A manually removable pin is pulled out of the lock mechanism to permit reciprocal movement of the locking bars, and a ring member may then be grasped to effect a reciprocal movement of the bars to thereby release the grill for swinging movement upon its hinges to allow a building occupant to escape through the window or door opening.
Ross, U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,954 discloses a burglar bar system incorporating a hand operated latch or lock enabling a hinged burglar bar gate to be opened by a person on the interior of the protected building. Intruders cannot reach the lock. The system includes a housing with an opening for hand engagement. In the opening, a spring supported lock member is pushed by hand to unlatch. Hand operation is constrained by the housing deployment, limiting use to a person near the housing and on the interior of the burglar bar gate.
Londono, U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,200 discloses a window bar security system having a grill of bars positioned outside a building window and held by a plurality of standoffs. Two of the standoffs are latching standoffs and extend from opposite sides of the grill through the wall and into the building and each latching standoffs includes a hole at the distal end. Four other guiding standoffs are inserted into receptacles against coil springs and the four guiding standoffs are positioned in pairs on opposite sides and equi-distant from each latching standoff. A pair of sliding bolt mechanisms are affixed to the inner wall of the building and positioned to permit the sliding bolt of each to fit into one of the latching standoff holes and to be moved towards the center of the window to release the latching standoffs. A pair of security pins are provided with one end designed to fit into a sliding bolt mechanism for preventing the unintentional movement of the sliding bolt and with another end shaped in the form of a hook. Each pin is tied by a string to a sliding bolt and the string is of such a length to permit the hooks of the two pins to be fastened together and still maintain the strings generally horizontal. To release the grill, the affixed strings are pulled to simultaneously move the sliding bolts out of the latching standoff holes. The pins and sliding bolt mechanism may be connected to an electronic security system.
Raath, U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,971 discloses a security device kit, a security device and a security installation, wherein a pair of spaced elongate primary security members extend in a first direction, and each has a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings. The ends of a plurality of elongate secondary security members, extending in a second direction, which is transverse to the first direction, are located in aligned openings in the primary security members. The ends of the secondary security members are thereby held captive in the primary security members. The secondary security members span a space between the primary security members, and the secondary security members are thus spaced apart from one another. A tertiary security member supports the secondary security members between the primary security members. An electrically operable burglar protection system, having an alarm, is connected to the security members.
To the inventor""s knowledge, most of the prior are burglar bar locking systems and electronic keyless locks require human intervention to open the lock or to operate the remote transmitter, and none of the prior art burglar bar systems are provided with electronic keyless locks, and none of the electronic keyless locks are associated with a smoke detector/sensor to automatically unlock the burglar bars in the event of a fire without human intervention.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, by emergency release burglar bars having electronic locks that are actuated remotely by a signal generated by a smoke detector alarm provide security and will automatically unlock upon detection of smoke in the premises without human intervention to allow safe exit from the premises, and easy access and entry to the premises by emergency personnel. When the smoke detector/alarm senses smoke in the premises, its alarm is xe2x80x9cpowered onxe2x80x9d to sound the alarm. A relay connected with the alarm circuit is activated simultaneously with the sounding of the alarm, which activates an xe2x80x9cunlockxe2x80x9d switch of a transmitter connected with the relay to transmit an RF xe2x80x9cunlockxe2x80x9d signal. Receivers on each of the electronic locks receive the transmitted signal, and activate an actuator, which actuates a mechanism to retract the bolt of the lock, allowing the burglar bars to be swung open.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide emergency release burglar bars having an electronic lock that is actuated remotely by a signal generated by a smoke detector alarm.
It is another object of this invention to provide emergency release burglar bars having an electronic lock that normally remains locked to provide security but will automatically quickly unlock the bars upon detection of smoke in the premises without human intervention.
Another object of this invention is to provide emergency release burglar bars that will quickly automatically unlock upon detection of smoke to allow safe exit from the premises, and easy access and entry to the premises by emergency personnel.
Another object of this invention is to provide emergency release burglar bars that will automatically unlock upon detection of smoke even if the occupants are unconscious or unable to unlock the bars.
A further object of this invention is to provide emergency release burglar bars that will automatically unlock upon detection of smoke in a premises which are easily and quickly installed, and reset after activation.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an emergency release burglar bar and smoke alarm system that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and rugged and reliable in operation.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time throughout the specification and claims as hereinafter related.
The above noted objects and other objects of the invention are accomplished by the present emergency release burglar bars having electronic locks that are actuated remotely by a signal generated by a smoke detector alarm provide security and will automatically unlock upon detection of smoke in the premises without human intervention to allow safe exit from the premises, and easy access and entry to the premises by emergency personnel. When the smoke detector/alarm senses smoke in the premises, its alarm is xe2x80x9cpowered onxe2x80x9d to sound the alarm. A relay connected with the alarm circuit is activated simultaneously with the sounding of the alarm, which activates an xe2x80x9cunlockxe2x80x9d switch of a transmitter connected with the relay to transmit an RF xe2x80x9cunlockxe2x80x9d signal. Receivers on each of the electronic locks receive the transmitted signal, and activate an actuator, which actuates a mechanism to retract the bolt of the lock, allowing the burglar bars to be swung open.